Yanks will pay half the election cost

Anthony Bruno, the senior vice president/chief financial officer of Yankee Global Enterprises, holds up an Ocala baseball jersey with New York Yankees pinstripes as he speaks about the prospect of bringing a New York Yankees, Florida minor league baseball facility to Ocala, during the Ocala/Marion County Chamber and Economic Partnership (CEP) breakfast at the Marion County Extension auditorium on Northeast Jacksonville Road in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013.

Published: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at 12:17 p.m.

The New York Yankees have offered to cover half the cost of a special election to determine whether the community will back a new sales tax that would support baseball's premiere franchise relocating one of its minor league affiliates to Ocala.

Anthony Bruno, the senior vice president/chief financial officer of Yankee Global Enterprises, holds up an Ocala baseball jersey with New York Yankees pinstripes as he speaks about the prospect of bringing a New York Yankees, Florida minor league baseball facility to Ocala, during the Ocala/Marion County Chamber and Economic Partnership (CEP) breakfast at the Marion County Extension auditorium on Northeast Jacksonville Road in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013.

Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Star-Banner

Tony Bruno, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Yankee Global Enterprises, said on Wednesday the team was willing to pay up to $175,000 to conduct a special election in March.

The proposal cut short an emergency Ocala City Council meeting called for Wednesday. The council had intended to discuss its options, including paying for the election itself, to get the Yankees' Class A team in Tampa to Marion County, provided the community is willing to build a $60 million stadium.

But the session lasted less than five minutes after Mayor Kent Guinn announced the Yankees' offer.

"We heard the message loud and clear on the issue of the cost of the referendum," Bruno explained in an interview.

Bruno was referring to a County Commission meeting held last week to discuss the move and the half-cent sales tax that would fund the 4,000-seat stadium, located west of Interstate 75 behind Kohl's department store.

At the session the commissioners signaled they would not support a special election in March. They preferred instead to pose the question during next year's primary or general elections. One reason was the cost.

The city has agreed to pay half of the estimated $350,000 it would take to hold the March ballot. Some county commissioners, however, have balked at the idea of coughing up the other half.

Thus, the Yankees stepped up to the proverbial plate.

"March is critical to get us to April 2016," said Bruno, noting when the minor league team would begin play in Ocala, if the plan moves forward.

Bruno said the election's timing is more critical than its method because of related steps the Yankees have to take to close the deal, which has been in the works for two years.

Ultimately, though, the team wants a "representative, timely" vote and believes that is best achieved thorough a mail-in ballot, Bruno said.

That's because turnout tends to plummet during traditional special elections.

The Yankees would not need to cover the cost of an August or November referendum, because the other elections would be held anyway.

"We're hopeful the voters get a chance to decide, and that's the way it should be," Bruno said.

As for what happens if the commission doesn't approve putting the tax on the March ballot, Bruno added, "We never want to say never, but I'm not aware of another track we can get on to make this work. I'm not aware of Plan B."

At the meeting Wednesday, Guinn told the council: "We'll just take it day by day and step by step, and move them around the bases, and eventually we'll get a home run."

After the abbreviated meeting, Guinn said he didn't see any more objections to at least conducting the election.

Councilman Daniel Owen agreed.

"We keep taking the ‘nos' off the table," Owen said after the session. "Now, it comes down to educating the public about the pros and cons."

Councilman John MacLeod noted that critics of the plan had made solid arguments about the project that were worth considering, but ultimately there has been a "huge outpouring" of support for it.

"It's exciting to see the possibility of something like this coming here to Ocala," he said.

On Tuesday, at the County Commission meeting, Supervisor of Elections Wesley Wilcox is scheduled to present details of how the mail-in election would be conducted.

City officials expect the final votes on holding the election in March will come in early January.

Contact Bill Thompson at 867-4117 or bill.thompson@ocala.com.

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